


First Words

by Hailhydration



Series: Shadowhunter Soulmates [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, Saphael, Soulmate AU, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 16:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9194126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hailhydration/pseuds/Hailhydration
Summary: Raphael thinks that he might have given up multiple times, if it wasn't for the words marked on his skin.Simon thinks that his soulmate must hate him. The words on his wrist do give off a certain unpleasant vibe.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Saphael Soulmates AU! Yayyyy? I was inspired to write this by a Sterek fanfiction I read a while ago, and it turned out better than I thought it would. I hope you like it:)

When Raphael first turned, his first thought wasn’t that he was a monster. His first thought was that his soulmate was wrong. Growing up, the words on his wrist-the first words his soulmate would say to him- had comforted him, given him hope. When his father had died and he’d been pulled out of school to go and work, his friends had called him names, tried their best to make him feel like he was stupid. But he’d just looked at his soul mark and tuned them out. When he refused the inappropriate advances of his first employer, and endured a beating along with shouts of ‘worthless, rubbish, dirty scum’, he could have been broken. But he’d just kept his soulmate’s words in mind and fought back, walked out with his head held high.

He’d always trusted in the words, always believed them. But now, he was something below humanity. He was cursed. There was no other option. The words on his wrist were a lie.

_‘You are absolutely perfect.’_

At first, Simon hated his words. As soon as he was old enough to properly understand what the scrawled lines on his wrist meant he’d been filled with a deep shame and had started hiding them. Simon never wore short sleeves in public from the age of 8-12, he had it bad enough dealing with the reactions of his schoolmates when they were forced to partake in swimming lessons together. There were the expected reactions, when they first read his words and mocked him. Simon was used to been made fun of, he was scrawny and nerdy and didn’t fit in with anyone. So he could deal with teasing. What was worse were the people who read his words and looked at him with pity. That was harder for him to handle.

When he turned 13, still with no sign of his soulmate, he decided to stop hiding his words and start proving them wrong. He started using his brains for more than video games and made the decision to make something out of his life. He stopped hiding in corners and started living a life that he was determined to make something useful of.

_‘Leave. You mean nothing.’_

Simon was 19, and had still not met his soulmate. Of course, that was no disappointment. He had no desire to meet the person who would willingly insult him within seconds of their meeting. He’d been a tad let down when Isabelle had used an introduction when she first addressed him. He wouldn’t have minded such hurtful words if they came from someone like her. She was incredible, exactly the kind of person Simon would have fallen for in moments if it weren’t for the whole ‘soulmates situation.’ But who was he kidding? He had totally fallen for Izzy, it wasn’t his fault that he had a tendency of masochism. He had a long track record of falling for the wrong people.

He also seemed to be starting a sure to be long track record for getting himself in life threatening situations. Yep, hanging upside down four stories above ground while in the possession of angry vampires definitely counted as the most life threatening situation he’d ever had the displeasure of being in. It wasn’t the first, Simon was nothing if not unlucky, but it was certainly the worst.

Getting kidnapped by vampires had never been high on Simon’s priority list. He may have had a couple of twilight induced fantasies about been seduced by a vampire (which he will vehemently deny, it never happened), but the real thing was nothing but unpleasant. Feeling like he was waking up from a deep sleep and coming to in the middle of an argument between two vampires was unpleasant, to say the least. Nightmarish would be a far more accurate term.

“No. Honestly. I’ve had it with this…thing.” The female vampire looked familiar, Simon’s cloudy memories slowly coming back to him as he woke up fully. She was tall, elegant. Terrifyingly beautiful. Yet as her painted lips curled around demeaning words Simon didn’t feel any sort of attraction to her.

“Give it to me. I’ll finish it off.”

The arms holding Simon hostage seemed to tighten at that and he found himself wishing to know who it was that seemed intent on killing Simon for themselves.

“Camille, we have a bigger problem. They’re almost here, and you can’t be caught.” The man’s voice was rich and silky. It made a still dazed Simon think of red velvet curtains. Of course, the next words spoken to Camille snapped him out of that particular train of thought very quickly. “I’ll kill it myself.”

If it weren’t for the knife pressed so hard against his throat that if he so much as said a word it would slice his skin, Simon would most likely have protested. It would most likely have gotten him killed even quicker though, so perhaps it was for the best. And that was a strange thought, wasn’t it? To be grateful for a knife against his throat?

It was a testament for how drugged Simon was still feeling that he started laughing hysterically at the thought. Whoever said laughter was a good medicine obviously never felt a blade digging into flesh as their throat moved with the vibrations from said laughter. From the annoyed huff the vampire holding him gave, Simon was sure that very soon that knife would slice through his neck completely.

But the man didn’t seem to be in any hurry to finish him off, even after Camille fled the room and they were alone. It wasn’t until Clary and the lightwood siblings entered the chamber that he moved or spoke at all. Even then, it was just to jostle Simon in his arms and address the group with a disdainful command to follow them.

The vampire kept silent the whole time lead Simon up a dark passage, the knife never leaving his throat and his grip never lessening. When they reached the steps leading up to a door that seemed to be an exit, Simon was surprised-incredibly grateful but definitely surprised-to be flung out of his arms and into Jace’s. Never would he have thought he’d be at all grateful to be in Jace’s arms, but at the moment they seemed like the best place in the words.

As Jace pushed him impatiently up the steps towards his freedom he was vaguely aware of the vampire addressing the shadowhunter, but paid no attention to anything other than the fact that he had been let go, he was free to leave, and he wasn’t dead!

At the last moment he turned his face to look at the vampire, feeling an overwhelming need to thank the person who had liberated him. It seemed like the man could read his intentions in his face, as he turned his back on Simon and addressed him dismissively.

_“Leave. You mean nothing.”_

For a moment Simon would have been able to pass as a vampire himself, he was that sure his heart had stopped beating. He definitely wasn’t breathing, that was for sure. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to breathe again.

Because the person who had convinced him as a pre-teen that he was so useless that even he soulmate would hate him, the person who had caused teenage Simon to make decisions that would shape his future into something profitable, that person, his soulmate, was right in front of him. And he was a vampire.

The vampire in question seemed to notice the change in atmosphere, or perhaps he was simply annoyed that the open door was letting deadly sunlight into his haven. Either way, he turned around again and levelled Simon with an aggravated glare. Simon opened his mouth to address his soulmate.

And closed it again. Because he was just now realising that his next words would decide what the man would have grown up with. The words that appeared with birth and kept him company all his life. Even if, as it was obvious, the vampire wanted nothing to do with Simon, his words would be branded on his skin. His words, on the skin of someone who had once been a human boy, someone who had become a vampire at a young age, someone who had risked his own life just to save an annoying mundane.

Of course, Simon had imagined it before, what words would pass his mouth in exchange for the insult against his skin. But never had he thought that he would be the one to speak second, to actually have time to think about what his reply would be.

 _“You are absolutely perfect.”_ His lips formed the words slowly, carefully and clearly, leaving no doubt for the vampire as he recognised the sentence.

Jace was pulling on Simon’s arm, Clary was calling his name and Izzy looked ready to come back and drag him out of the hotel, yet Simon didn’t want to leave yet. Didn’t want to let go of his soulmate. But Jace didn’t give him an option, forcefully herding him away from the vampire.

Simon was allowed only one last look at him before he left. However it was enough to see the man, who had been standing frozen and shocked, shake his head and turn away. He left Simon’s sight faster than would be humanely possible, but that wasn’t what he focussed on. He focussed on the fact that his soulmate never looked back.

 

 

 

Seven days later, Raphael will be standing talking to two shadowhunters who had killed members of his own clan, members of his family, and he won’t be thinking of his fallen associates at all. All he will be thinking of is a clumsy teen with awkward limbs and a tendency to act before he thinks and who’s words probably saved Raphael’s life numerous times. His soulmate.

“I’ll look after Simon.” He will say. “You have my word.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading, if you did please leave kudos and a comment, they really make my day:)


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